Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) for Secret Service records related to it investigation of Hunter Biden’s gun, reportedly found illegally disposed of in a dumpster in Delaware.

The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia after Secret Service (a component of DHS) failed to respond adequately to a March 25, 2021 FOIA request for records or communications about the reported purchase, possession, and disposal of a firearm owned by Hunter Biden. The gun was said to have been found in a Delaware dumpster in the October 2018 timeframe.

Judicial Watch is investigating whether and how the Secret Service intervened on behalf Hunter Biden, in an incident involving his gun.

In October 2020, The Blaze reported that in October 2018, Hallie Biden, the widow of then-presidential nominee Joe Biden’s other son, Beau, took Hunter’s gun.

In 2021, POLITICO reported that Hallie Biden took Hunter’s gun and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store, only to return later to find it gone.

Delaware police began investigating the discovery of the weapon, concerned that the trash can was across from a high school, and that the missing gun could have been used in a crime, according to law enforcement officials and a copy of the police report obtained by POLITICO.

However, a puzzling thing happened. Secret Service agents reportedly approached the owner of the gun store where Hunter bought the weapons and asked to take the paperwork involving the sale. That’s according to two people, one said to have firsthand knowledge of the episode, and the other said to have been briefed by a Secret Service agent.

The Secret Service and the Biden administration apparently are in cover-up mode for Hunter Biden. Whether its Hunter Biden’s laptop, his business practices and travel, or these documents related to the careless disposal of a gun in a dumpster near a high school, this administration continues to put up unlawful roadblocks to any effort to investigate the activities of the Biden family, particularly Hunter.  

Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President

Through multiple FOIA’s, Judicial Watch has uncovered significant information about Hunter Biden’s controversial Ukrainian connections. The following facts are according to Judicial Watch.

• Hunter Biden served on the board of directors for Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings despite having no previous experience in the energy industry.

• In December 2020, Judicial Watch received records from the State Department tying Hunter Biden’s Burisma Holdings’ lobbying operation to an influence-peddling operation involving the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election. Also uncovered were State Department records showing that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch had specifically warned in 2017 about corruption allegations against Burisma Holdings.

• In October 2020, State Department records that included a briefing checklist of a February 22, 2019, meeting in Kyiv between then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Sally Painter, co-founder and chief operating officer of Blue Star Strategies, a Democratic lobbying firm which was hired by Burisma Holdings to combat corruption allegations. The briefing checklist notes that Painter also planned to meet with Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) Officer Martin Claessens “regarding the Burisma Group energy company.” (Painter was implicated in the Clinton-era fundraising scandal exposed by Judicial Watch that involved the alleged sale of seats on Commerce Department trade missions to Democratic National Committee donors.)

• In September 2020, State Department records  include a January 17, 2017, email from George Kent, the Obama administration’s deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Ukraine policy, which was copied to then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, highlighting Russia-linked media “trolling” Joe Biden over “his son’s business.” An email was sent four days prior to the inauguration of President Donald Trump to a redacted recipient and CCd to Yovanovitch with the subject line “medvedchuk-linked vesti trolls Biden.” Kent writes: “Burisma – gift that keeps on giving. (With medvedchuk affiliated Vesti pushing the troll like storyline on visit day)”

• In June 2020, U.S. Secret Service records showed that, for the first five and a half years of the Obama administration, Hunter Biden traveled extensively while receiving a Secret Service protective detail. During the time period of the records provided, Hunter Biden took 411 separate domestic and international flights, including to 29 different foreign countries. He visited China five times. 

Judicial Watch is also suing the DHS for Secret Service records on Hunter Biden’s travel and security costs, and is suing the State Department for messages sent through the SMART (State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolkit) system that mention Hunter Biden.

Read the FOIA request here: Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security